You can get rechargeable battery packs that you can charge your phone from. I
recently bought one of these:
http://powerpod.net/products/powerpod-overnighter
I haven't used it much yet, but it's supposed to be able to charge an iPhone
twice over.
Another disadvantage of using a phone is the risk of damage. Dedicated GPS are
reasonably rugged and weatherproof, whereas a phone's screen will crack if
dropped, and they certainly aren't waterproof.
Peter Shute
Sent from my iPad
> On 7 Oct 2013, at 5:58 pm, "Carl Clifford" <> wrote:
>
> Yes, I have notice the little blighters are a bit hungry. Lucky B E offer a
> charging cable for using in your car, though any USB A to micro USB would do,
> combined with a cigarette lighter adaptor with a USB outlet (thinks: must get
> them for myself)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Carl Clifford
>
>
>
>> On 07/10/2013, at 17:35, Bill Stent <> wrote:
>>
>> Funny you should mention Bad Elf. I had to give a speech at a mate's 50th
>> yesterday. He lives in a bit of a rabbit warren in Reservoir (Melbourne) so
>> I stuck the Bad Elf into the iPod and had the sat nav get me there. Problem
>> was, I forgot to turn it off when I arrived. The Bad Elf is a ripper little
>> thing but it does chew the battery a bit.
>>
>> After a couple of hours it was time to do the speech. Problem was I'd put my
>> notes (you can probably see where this is going...) on my iPod.
>>
>> A bit of a panic followed but I was saved by mate's daughter who had a
>> charger.
>>
>> Good lesson though. Letting the GPSr run out of battery in the city is
>> inconvenient. Letting it run out in the outback could be fatal. Always keep
>> a backup.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>>>> On 07/10/2013, at 4:23 PM, <> wrote:
>>>
>>> Gidday Peter,
>>>
>>> In all my years of GPSing I've never had a straight GPS crash. This has
>>> included severe cooking incidents in cars on Cape York in summer sun, long
>>> drops onto sandstone, proper drenching, and sweat .... so much sweat! I
>>> haven't relied on memory cards ever. It means the GPS can store less, but
>>> it's useful enough for me with inbuilt maps, which I generally turn off
>>> anyway.
>>>
>>> I have had two occasions when the GPS signal has clearly been scrambled
>>> when my direction of travel changed suddenly on the GPS but not in actual
>>> fact, and sudden loss of accuracy (up to 200m error). I suspect the time
>>> stamps received by the GPS must have been diluted (not sure of correct
>>> terminology), but these inaccuracies are otherwise inexplicable to me.
>>>
>>> The GPS function on my smartphone, including with Bad Elf (which I think
>>> someone mentioned earlier) is not yet in my "trusted equipment" list
>>> because of battery drain, aforementioned crash, and general failure of some
>>> associated applications to work with sufficient reliability.
>>>
>>> Hooroo,
>>>
>>> E
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Peter Shute
>>> Sent: Monday, 7 October 2013 2:40 PM
>>> To: Vanderduys, Eric (CES, TownsvilleATSIP)
>>> Cc: ;
>>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] GPS on Smartphones - caution
>>>
>>> Good point. Do dedicated GPSs ever crash and become inaccessible? I would
>>> have thought they'd be less likely too, being simpler, but memory cards can
>>> become corrupt in any device.
>>>
>>> Apart from a data loss like yours, one has to consider what happens if
>>> you're relying on it to navigate at the time.
>>>
>>> Peter Shute
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>>> On 7 Oct 2013, at 3:40 pm, ""
>>>> <> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> Peter, I second your comments regarding the usefulness of GPS functions
>>>> and various apps on smart phones.
>>>>
>>>> One caution: if your phone is an iPhone and crashes, it is a complete
>>>> black box. Last year I commenced collecting certain types of field data on
>>>> an iPhone 4s. After turning the phone off at end of field trip, and then
>>>> turning it back on it asked to be reset. This, allegedly, wipes all data.
>>>> The good news is I sent it to a forensic data recovery expert in Sydney
>>>> who cracked it (his first successful 4s crack) and recovered all data for
>>>> $250. Much cheaper than redoing the data collection (estimate $4-6k).
>>>>
>>>> Lesson: even if you get back to camp at midnight, back up immediately to a
>>>> computer, or cloud if in range.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> Eric
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From:
>>>> On Behalf Of Peter
>>>> and Toni
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, 1 October 2013 2:40 PM
>>>> To:
>>>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] GPS for vocalisation recording
>>>>
>>>> I use several different Android smartphones and tablets for detailed GPS
>>>> mapping. The modern smart phones are brilliant in heavy forest. Mine is
>>>> capable of tracking more than 20 satellites, including the russian ones.
>>>> Older GPS could only track 8 so quickly lost signal under cover.
>>>> In heavy rainforest the phone kept a fix at all times when previous
>>>> surveys had seen older GPS lose all signal. Every year the phones get
>>>> more sensitive. For instance they will easily get a fix from inside a
>>>> house, as long as there is a window in the room. Accuracy and
>>>> repeatability are far improved from older dedicated GPS I have owned,
>>>> although I am sure newer dedicated GPSs have also improved. I use
>>>> Oziexplorer to manage maps and waypoints. It can download the waypoints
>>>> to excel for easy manipulation. There are similar programs available for
>>>> Apple. Battery life can be a bit short, but I also carry a small battery
>>>> pack that can recharge the phone if out all day. Having your birding app,
>>>> GPS and phone in one instrument makes juggling hardware a lot less of a
>>>> problem. As long as you don't lose it or drop it.
>>>>
>>>> cheers
>>>> Peter
>>>>> On 01-Oct-13 12:41 PM, Merrilyn Serong wrote:
>>>>> Garmin handheld GPS units are very good.
>>>>> Here is a link so you can compare the different models.
>>>>> https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/AU/cOnTheTrail-cHandheld-p1.html
>>>>> They are not cheap, but if you want a good one...
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Merrilyn
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 1/10/2013 11:59 AM, David Richardson wrote:
>>>>>> One of the points mentioned in the original post was that the GPS be
>>>>>> capable of deep forest satellite acquisition.I don't know much about
>>>>>> iphone or camera GPS functions but I doubt they would operate
>>>>>> accurately in situations other than clear sky satellite
>>>>>> acquisition.That is why a dedicated GPS unit,and a very good one at
>>>>>> that,would be of more use.
>>>>>> perhaps someone on list who has knowledge of this could post a relpy
>>>>>> addressing that point?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 10:27 AM, Peter Shute <> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I suspect that the main difference between a phone GPS and a
>>>>>>> dedicated one, apart from not using up the battery of your precious
>>>>>>> communication device, is accuracy. I'm told I shouldn't expect
>>>>>>> better than 30m accuracy from an iphone.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I suspect Google Earth coordinates can be off by that much too, if
>>>>>>> the difference between the images of roads and the corresponding
>>>>>>> linework is anything to go by.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Peter Shute
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 1 Oct 2013, at 9:06 am, "Martin Butterfield"
>>>>>>> < <>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If you don't have a mobile phone, my camera (Panasonic TZ40) has a
>>>>>>> GPS function which - if activated - includes geocoordinates with
>>>>>>> images. I suspect many other mid-range cameras now have this
>>>>>>> functionality.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It seems that the need for a dedicated GPS for simply recording
>>>>>>> point locations is well gone.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Martin
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 1 October 2013 08:30, Peter Shute <<mailto:
>>>>>>> >> wrote:
>>>>>>> If you mean you want to save and name a way point so that you can
>>>>>>> just read out the way point name into the microphone, then I would
>>>>>>> have thought most would allow that. Some probably just
>>>>>>> automatically number the way points, but you could read out that number.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I just use my phone's GPS (have never tried a dedicated GPS), and I
>>>>>>> read out the coordinates directly at each new location. I could
>>>>>>> mark a way point and then later copy its coordinates into the
>>>>>>> metadata, but it seems just as quick to type it out while I listen
>>>>>>> to the coordinates I read out.
>>>>>>> It gives
>>>>>>> me two chances to get it wrong, but it also means the coordinates
>>>>>>> aren't as likely to get separated from the recording.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm hoping I can find a way to get the phone to read out the
>>>>>>> current coordinates so I can just hold it up to the mic. That
>>>>>>> should eliminate the first kind of error, but it's inspired more by
>>>>>>> laziness.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Peter Shute
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>>> From: <mailto:
>>>>>>> > [
>>>>>>> <mailto:
>>>>>>> >] On Behalf Of Roger
>>>>>>> McNeill [
>>>>>>> <>]
>>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, 1 October 2013 7:52 AM
>>>>>>> To:
>>>>>>> <
>>>>>>> au
>>>>>>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] GPS for vocalisation recording
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> All,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I know this has been raised a few times over the years, so
>>>>>>> apologies for that, but the technology and brands keep changing and
>>>>>>> it is difficult to keep up.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I need a Handheld GPS to support my vocalisation recordings. The
>>>>>>> main requirements other than the obligatory battery life,
>>>>>>> ruggedness, light, international maps, deep forest satilite
>>>>>>> acquistion, etc, is the ability to input multiple way points and
>>>>>>> link them to a specific recording.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Most of the units I see on line seem to have a detailed drill down
>>>>>>> menu but what I am looking for is a compact unit whereby I can
>>>>>>> quickly enter a location, note the 'location reference' in my
>>>>>>> recording and then weeks later when I am back home, download that
>>>>>>> way point into my computer when I am doing my Meta data?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Up until now I have been doing it after the fact off Google Earth
>>>>>>> and this is getting very old.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Also, the ability to pre-load waypoints is probably standard, but
>>>>>>> also required. I am a hand held GPS novice, if that is not already
>>>>>>> evident by the questions, so any and all help is appreciated.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Roger
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Roger McNeill
>>>>>>> Samford Valley, SEQ
>>>>>>> ===============================
>>>>>
>>>>> ===============================
>>>>>
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>>>>> to:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://birding-aus.org
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